Jokes | Humor | Funny Stories
What’s So Funny? A Joke Is a Short Story
A review of What Killed Humor? by Joseph Epstein
In a February issue of National Review, Joseph Epstein wrote a column about humour. He had some intriguing things to say about humour. Here are a few of the things he wrote:
A joke is a mini short story. That makes jokes a great thing to share in a speech, a blog post, an article, a Medium story. Jokes are short stories that actually touch upon the good, the bad, and the in-between of human life.
I’m not sure that humour has much to do with good taste. Humour, jokes, quips — they often come without any good taste. And, yet, they can be funny. The best jokes are stories that are often so true to life that they may seem in bad taste — unless your mind is open to a new viewpoint. Then bad taste becomes something more: A challenge to your normal way of thinking.
Just about every other category of joke would be awarded one or another of the current day’s non-union labels: misogynist, elitist, or just generally offensive. It’s one of the reasons that a lot of comedians are avoiding the college circuit these days. College students are so indoctrinated with weakness that they can’t appreciate a good joke.
